IT only takes one trip to Friendship — a little remote district in eastern Hanover — to discover that it is a dying community.

In fact, Friendship is actually enclosed by walls built during slavery — walls beyond which lie Cacoon and Content to the west, New Milnes to the north, Lethe to the east and Copse to the South.

Friendship, though, with its lush vegetation; tall, majestic bamboo trees that sway gently in the wind; and the soft gurgling of the Friendship River as it snakes through to adjoining villages, is among the most beautiful areas in Jamaica.

But the community is sparsely populated by approximately 99 adults, 11 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17, and 22 children from zero to 12 years old.

Locals blame this on the fact that most persons leave the community in search of economic opportunities because Friendship, with underdeveloped social amenities, and one-third of its 1,400 hectares of prime agricultural land unoccupied, is neglected by local government.

A stunning example of the urban drift is visible at the Friendship All-Age School where the register has dwindled from 300 students in the 1980s to 34 today.

Principal Barnell Jackson, and Pauline Wright are the only two teachers of nine left to run the school which was established May 17, 1894 by the Friendship Baptist Church.

A few notable Jamaicans received their early education at Friendship All-Age. Among them former Montego Bay mayor, Charles Sinclair; Jamaica’s first Spelling Bee champion, Jennifer Jackson; and former Jamaica Labour Party member of parliament, Dr Franklyn Jackson.

“A lot of things changed,” said Barnell Jackson. “There used to be children coming from Haddington, New Milnes, Content, Milestone and Lethe to this school.”

The children, she said, once used a short cut to get to the school. But that route has been impassable since Hurricane Gilbert devastated Jamaica in 1988.

“Friendship needs help, it’s dying slowly but surely,” she lamented. “We are trying to do what we can, but we can do so much.”

She attributes the school’s low register to migration, a reluctance by some children to walk to school, parents’ complaints about the distance, and bad roads.

“The road condition is very bad,” she told the Sunday Observer. “Outside help is not forthcoming.”

But Jackson also blames absentee landowners for Friendship’s moribund state.

“Vast acres of undeveloped lands are here and nothing is being done to them,” she said. “One family will own 40 acres or more of land at a time, and will not sell. When they do decide to sell, the price is too much to afford.”

The upshot, she said, is a lack of development in the district that drives away the young.

To add to Friendship’s woes are deplorable roads and, literally, the absence of piped water.

“Light deh ’bout, but the de wata system bad,” lamented Michael Miller, a 30-something man, as he walked up a hill with his pan of laundry on his head and containers of water in his hands.

“From June flood ’79, nuh wata nuh come up yah so. Den Gilbert come and mek it worse,” he said.

His friend, Verzel Gray, 60, ravaged by years of hard work and unprotected days in the sun, said: “From Arnold “Dutty Shut” Scott Jackson (a JLP MP for the area) dead, Friendship dead. If he was alive, we wouldn’t be without road and water. No transportation run from here to MoBay during the day, only in the morning when the three taxi drivers (who live there) leave the district from about 7:00. During the day, it dead.”

Calvin Housen, who was born in Friendship in 1929 and now lives in neighbouring Copse, agreed. “Deh so (Friendship) a bush — dead place,” he said. “Only now and again we have little water. Every day dem say engine bruk down in the water pump. From Jackson dead, everything dead. He got us light, water and road. Even the school used to be nice because I even went there.”

According to Housen, Friendship is not improving because of the deplorable road conditions, the neglect of the irrigation system, lack of local government representation and the disinterest of landowners.

Housen blasted the landowners for refusing to sell their lands, and politicians who, he said, had little or no regard for people in the district. However, he said the people of Friendship and surrounding districts had only themselves to blame for this, as they did not speak with their votes.

“We blame ourselves, we put the wrong man inna de wrong place,” he said.

Neither the sitting member of parliament for Eastern Hanover, Barrington Gray of the JLP, nor the People’s National Party caretaker, Lloyd Hill, were available for comment.

Michael Miller and Verzel Gray meantime, had little hope for agriculture in the district, pointing out the scarcity of water, which is sometimes broken by meagre drops from standpipes. They said it was wise to plant only root crops as vegetables do not yield a good harvest.

“We only farm yam, corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkin,” said Miller. “We don’t plant food that we have to carry water to, like cabbage, tomatoes and callaloo.”

Gray, unable to mask his frustration at the situation, said: “More time I have to put a jug in my bag to get and carry water from the river. It’s bad for my back. Some people rely on drums and tanks and is only certain people did build tanks way back then.”

Sharon Hastings, a 23 year-old mother of two boys, one six years and the other a month old, is a stay-at-home mom who needs water constantly.

“Mi haffi go far fi look wata every day,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Hastings, however, is sometimes spared the inconvenience, as she has a tank in which she is sometimes able to store water brought into the community by trucks.

Despite the difficulties, Jackson is hopeful.

“As depressing as this may seem, there are viable alternatives and solutions to this problem — the dying syndrome,” she said.

Her solution is for the unoccupied land to be used to generate employment through private investment.

The principal also suggested that a teachers’ cottage be built for the school and that the Ministry of Education embark on a recruitment programme to increase attendance.

“They could upgrade the current curriculum at Friendship All-Age to accommodate a vocational institution where practical skills training may be offered,” she added.

Jackson further recommended that incentives for educators interested in rural development could be offered to stimulate interest in the community and argued that a massive housing project in the district could influence more people to live there.

“This influx of interest might stimulate a better transportation system and the worthwhile amenities, such as a police station and a fire department,” she said.

“There is the need for an urgent and comprehensive rescue plan for this community in order for improvement and restoration to civil decency,” she said, adding: “This re-engineering begins with the school, which is the cornerstone of the community.”